


Pain in the Doctor

by TintedPink



Series: Lysa Does Something Stupid [14]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Doctor/Patient Dynamic, Gen, Hospitals, genetic heart condition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 14:04:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18740548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TintedPink/pseuds/TintedPink
Summary: Anonymous: Tony has a weak heart. Stephen has made it his mission to be his personal doctor and take care of him forever. Fluff !





	Pain in the Doctor

**Author's Note:**

> For some reason I don’t think of myself as a fluff writer. Or maybe I just don’t see the fluff in this prompt, but I’m trying. Like there’s only so much room for fluff in a fic that is essentially about Stephen admitting that he can’t help Tony. IronStrange forever though, right?  
> (formatting fixed, sorry about that.)

Tony Stark was an extreme case. Stephen had never seen anything like it. He seemed to be surviving on a cocktail of medicines and the will to live alone. His stress level was higher than any of the doctors Stephen knew, and he never, and Stephen meant never, took a break. Ever. Tony Stark was always working despite numerous doctors telling him that it was important for him to keep his stress level down for his health. The man was a walking heart attack waiting to happen. He couldn’t spend more than a few minutes sitting up at a time and he was bed bound and migraine ridden most days, and yet the man insisted on working himself literally to death.

“I can’t keep watching you do this to yourself.” Stephen says as he walks into the room with Tony’s most recent test results. They look terrible, with Tony’s blood pressure always too high or too low, his glucose levels erratic, and his cortisol level continuously elevated.

“No one asked you to watch, Doc. The only reason I’m still here is because Pepper keeps bribing you not to discharge me. Stop taking her bribes and I’ll be out of your hair.” Tony was working on the dimmest tablet screen Stephen had ever seen, so dark it’s nearly off, presumably to keep from exacerbating his migraines.

“If I discharge you you’ll kill yourself within the week. At least this way I can keep an eye on you.” He takes Tony’s blood pressure again, “I want to do another EEG to see how the new treatment is coming along. I’ve scheduled it for Thursday.”

“Ugh, what is with you people trying to keep me from ‘killing myself?’ I’m not killing me. My heart is killing me. It’s genetic birth defect, probably a higher powers cosmic joke to keep my genius from being here for the lifespan of a normal human. I’m going to die prematurely whether I work or not, so I may as well be working and not wasting my time laid up in a hospital bed being useless!”

“Tony, you need to keep your cortisol levels down. Please. Relax. I know this isn’t what you wanted.”

“Isn’t what I wanted!? Well that’s the understatement of the century.” Tony’s fists clench and Stephen releases the pressure on the blood pressure cuff. There’s no way the reading will be accurate with Tony this upset.

Stephen takes a deep breath, taking far more time to formulate his response than he would with most of his other patients. “I know that the prognosis isn’t good, but there are options. This isn’t a hopeless battle, but it would be far more hopeful if you took care of yourself.” Stephen tries to muster every bit of his bedside manner and say it as kindly as possible, but it doesn’t seem to do him any good.

“I am taking care of myself. I’m taking care of my legacy, my company, the people I’m going to leave behind when I finally kick the bucket. That’s what’s important.” Tony goes back to working on his tablet like Stephen isn’t even there, and Stephen takes another deep breath to try and center himself. He was never really good at bedside manner, and Tony was starting to test him.

“I think they’d all be happier if you spent your time working towards getting better.”

“I’ve run the numbers, doc. Odds of that aren’t worth the time I’d be losing doing nothing, so thanks but no thanks. Dose me up with half of whatever painkillers you think I need and leave.”

“Are you messing with the IV again?” Stephen looks at the drip and the flow rate has been drastically reduced from what he knows it was set at. “I give you the dose I give you for a reason. A half dose doesn’t give you half the effect, that’s not how medicine works.”

“Well the dose I was on was making my head foggy, and I’m working, so that’s not allowed.” Tony doesn’t even look at Stephen as he turns the IV drip back to a normal flow rate and moves the drip as far from Tony as possible, which isn’t actually very far. Stephen knows better though, and knows as soon as he leaves the room Tony will self un-medicate. Again.

“We can change the medicine, but that medication isn’t just for pain. It’s for your heart. You need the full dose. I’ll get you started on something else soon, but in the meantime, don’t touch this.” He raises his voice and enunciated like he sometimes has to do to children.

“Sure thing, doc.” Stephen knows that Tony isn’t really listening to him, but he tries anyway.

“Working yourself to death isn’t going to do you or anyone you care about any favors, Tony.” He takes the tablet out of Tony’s hands and sets it on the moveable foot tray and pushes the tray out of Tony’s reach. “Take a nap. Relax. Please.”

Tony doesn’t answer, just glares as his tablet and then at Stephen, who he has to squint at because he’s standing directly in front of a window, which is making his migraine worse.

“Fine, but close the blinds on your way out. I can’t nap in these conditions.”

“Yeah, alright Tony.” Stephen closes the blinds on his way out, and when he turns back to tell Tony to rest easy Tony has already grabbed his tablet again.

“Why do I even bother?”

“I think it’s in your job description. Go make your rounds. I’ll hold down the fort around here. Mr. Stark is going to behave.”

“Funny how I don’t believe you.” Stephen doesn’t go back for the tablet, just leaves the room to finish his rounds and sends a discreet text to one Pepper Potts. Maybe she can clear a half hour or so to get Tony to fall asleep for a while. He can only dream.

Tony Stark was an extreme case, one Stephen was taking very seriously, even if the man himself was taking it as unseriously as possible to protect himself emotionally. Stephen couldn’t say h blamed the guy. If Stephen was in his position he would probably be doing the same thing, or drowning himself in looking for a cure. Either way it would be as unhealthy a coping mechanism as Tony’s newfound fixation on working.

Tony Stark was an extreme case, but Stephen had to believe that he could help the man. If only he would help himself first.

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr Post](https://iwritefanficsometimes.tumblr.com/post/181944021174/tony-has-a-week-heart-stephen-has-take-it-as-a)


End file.
